The Train Back Home
by Shufuku
Summary: 1945, at the pinnacle of World War 2, Anna desperately waits for the reunion of her love after his stream of letters stop coming in four months prior to his intended return. What awaits her as the last train to Izumo comes over the horizon. Will he be on it?


_-Train Back Home-_

* * *

_September 10__th__, 1945_

Anna stared at the pocket watch she had in her hand, her palms slightly sweating from anxiety and taking her hands out of her pockets and blowing her warm breath across them. It was a lot colder today than it was since autumn started, weird so early in the fall season, so she was bundled up in two overcoats, neither of which were hers, and a scarf in order to evade the harsh wind chill. She stood almost motionless on the train platform as the distant birds chirped and the trees rustled their leaves. She took a bite out of the slice of melon bread she had in her pocket, her jaws tense from the shivers.

Anna had been standing there for five hours waiting for a train that was supposed to be there within five minutes. On board, were the last soldiers of Izumo returning home from battle.

The war was over, much to her relief, but also to her dismay. She prided herself in her people, her country, but the idea of defeat rocked her to her core. Japan had surrendered to the United States on September 2nd, 1945 after taking a heavy toll in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It bothered her knowing that it had to get to such a point, far from her home in Tokyo, that the Emperor refused to lay down arms, but she could still see why. The pride of the Japanese was strong, but after reading in the newspaper the devastation received in the two cities made her physically sick. Very little war reached her front door, but she continued to keep up with the current events until it ended, the fire bombings further south, and the people that became homeless and stranded because of it, and even though she had no relatives or knew anyone outside Izumo, she could still feel compassion for those who lost so dearly. When things began to turn for the worst, she didn't realize it would hit so close to home for her as well.

She remembered when he came home and announced he had enlisted in the Navy. She wore a blank expression, but she knew that where he was going, death soon followed. She hated the war, all wars, knowing that it was taking him away from her. The fighting and the killing, it solved nothing, and it only brought about pain and misery.

The day of his departure came too fast. She was outside putting up sheets on the clothesline, admiring the glistening summer sun when he came up behind her, wrapped his hands around her waist and hugged her tightly.

"_I have to go." _

After that, there were only two things on her mind, what was she going to do with all of the extra food she had just cooked, and how lonely she was going to be when he was gone.

She turned around to face him and smiled, _"So soon lieutenant?"_

Yoh Asakura, fully dressed in pure white garb, his long black hair cut back short, and tied into a pony tail that came down to the nape of his neck, and dignified naval cap rested on his head.

…_Looks so young, like back when we were kids._

He wore a soft and sad smile, _"Yes, I hop on the train in fifteen minutes. Want to walk with me there?"_

"_Of course,"_ she said without hesitation. She dropped her chores, took his hand, and led him through the house, and out the front door and down the dirt road that ran adjacent to her home.

Their walk was silent, very unlike their usual rambunctious conversations they usually had. It was the same road they both grew up on in the same providence. Many nostalgic moments happened on this old dirt road. They used to go to school this way, ran down towards the river to catch fish and shrimp, and more recently, it was the same road that he confessed his love to her, dropping her off after a trip they took to Hinomisaki with some friends to go to the beach. But now, they were departing for the first time. It felt weird and heart-wrenching, but they were both careful to show it.

"_You're going to write, aren't you?"_ she said softly looking up at him after squeezing his hand. He nodded in return.

"…_Everyday if I can."_

"_That's good. I'll be looking for them every day."_

"_Haha, I don't think I can every single day though."_

She frowned, _"Why not?"_

The sudden change in her tone surprised him, but he smiled back, _"Well, I AM helping in saving Japan. Just know that when I'm not writing, I'm fending off the enemy." _

There was a small pause before she said anything else, _"…Do you really think they're the enemy?"_

He took a second to think about his choice of words before answering, _"…in all honesty Anna, anyone that threatens my home is an enemy."_ He looked down at her, _"I have my family to protect. And you as well, don't I?"_

That made her blush. Reflexes kicked in, and she punched him in the arm making him recoil in slight pain.

"_Ow, what was that for?"_

She turned away with a pouting face,_ "You were waiting this entire time to use that line." _

He couldn't help but laugh, _"You got me."_

Anna knew it wasn't in Yoh to kill. She didn't expect him to. But when the day came that he enlisted, she saw something ignite in his eyes, something she had never seen in him before.

Pride.

It wasn't the kind that she would despise in anyone else; it was a kind that got him up early in the morning two months before his deployment. He would go running and come back and train and tone his body to make sure he was in peak physical condition. He was quite self-conscious around her, but there was a night when she was cooking dinner for his family, and she went to his room to let him know the food was ready, only to find him shirtless, changing out of his work attire. The plate of tea she had in her hands dropped to the floor. Before he could say anything, she walked off and bid the family goodnight, running all the way back to her house.

The results of his hard work were quite apparent, but his usual lax personality was slowly replaced by a driven, determined persona. And along with it, she began to act the same, finding opportunities to help him train (_which were much to his displeasure due to her strict training methods_) and improve in other aspects in her own life. It showed just how much they impacted each other in the long run.

In no time at all, they had made it to the train station and he was on the other side of the platform staring back at her.

"_Do you know when you'll be back?"_

He shook his head, _"I don't know. I am a lieutenant. I may not come back until this whole ordeal is over."_

By then, she was unable to stop the small tears from swelling up in her eyes. Before they could fall, he scooped her up in his arms and stole a passionate kiss, leaving her breathless. To say she was unprepared would be a terrible understatement.

"_I'll be seeing you then," _he tipped his hat and grinned.

And with that, the train doors slid to a close and he was off leaving her on the platform surrounded by dozens of stunned onlookers. She stood there frozen on the spot, unable to process what had just happened. Soon, the weight of all the peering eyes was too much for her to bear, and she ran home, both embarrassed and excited at the same time.

Lieutenant Yoh Asakura left in 1941. Time past, but he wrote to her often. She practically lived by the mail box waiting for his consistent stream of letters. Summer slowly turned to fall and back to spring, and she could tell there was a change in him through the words that he wrote on the scraps of paper he could find aboard the battleship he was sailing on. He never specified too thoroughly, of course he didn't want her to worry, but she knew that if it wasn't terrible, it was too much to put into words, but he somehow knew how to keep a smile on her face. He would crack the occasional joke even though it seemed a bit out of place due to the military status he had apparently climbed to through the years he had been at sea.

"_Captain Asakura,"_ she had to say it out loud to herself as she placed the folded letter on the table. It had a nice ring to it. She was dating a captain. And if it came up in conversation at the local market, she would let people know, and wouldn't let them forget. Anything she could do to help from her home, she did. She had a small garden growing in the back, small flowers here and there, but she replaced them with fruit and vegetables, sending them south along with her reply letters to aid the naval forces. It didn't feel like much, but it was all she could do, and she was determined to tend to her plants. In a few months, she had to tear down her fence to let her thriving orchard grow. Eventually, she was known throughout the region as the Garden Girl.

But everything ran cold as the years dragged on. The time in between his letters came to her mailbox grew longer and longer, till eventually, they stopped coming all together. It was at the moment, her world stood still. For four long months, not one letter came from him. She had no way of knowing how he was doing, where he was, or if he was even ali—

No.

She refused to be presumptuous. She would be patient and content in knowing that he was out saving Japan.

Then the newspaper came.

A bomb had been dropped in Hiroshima.

There was no need to for it anyway.

She could have sworn that she felt the world shake the day that it dropped. She knew something unnatural had happened.

It caused terrible damage in its wake, killing hundreds of thousands of people. A sinking feeling was in her stomach. Who the hell were these Americans? Who exactly was Japan fighting? Where was the humanity? How was Yoh doing in all of this? Where was he? Her nights grew long and restless as she stared up at the ceiling, heart throbbing out of her chest. She didn't know what to think anymore. She was so used to being able to analyze and rationalize a situation, but her head was swimming. There were too many things that she couldn't answer on her own. Should she go look for him? No, what if he came back home?

Yes, she still hoped. That was the only thing she could do. And how dare she not? She wasn't the only person in that situation. So many others were waiting for loved ones to come back home. Somewhere else, there was another young girl standing outside her door, waiting for her love to come down the road to scoop her up in his arms and say everything was going to be alright. If hope was going to fade, she was going to be the last to lose it, maybe never lose it. She forced herself to bed and wake up early to go to the shrine and pray. She would take a long walk afterward to clear her restless mind. In the afternoon, she would go to the Asakura household and clean the quarters and fix dinner for them. Because of their wealth, they didn't need such a luxury coming from her, but she could tell they were grieving like her being that they had received little to no information about their son's whereabouts. They confided in one another, now knowing that Anna was quite fond of their son. Of course, they knew they were childhood friends, but their current relationship was quite a hot topic during evening meals. Both parents and grandparents grew fond of her in no time at all.

They admired her strong will and determination, something that was growing faint in the people of Izumo, but even if she was feeling unsteady, she never showed it. She kept her head held high and encouraged others to hold fast and be strong, an example of faith and integrity. And faith was contagious. Wherever she went, people's morale grew just by being near her. And it was sorely needed.

Then August 9th came.

And the world grew silent as the devastation came again to Nagasaki. Anna could only think of Yoh, hoping, praying that he was somewhere safe, anywhere safe thinking of her and wishing to come home. That's all she wanted…for him to come home.

Or was that just wishful thinking?

Well, wishful thinking was the thing that brought her out on the vacant train platform in the first place. After Japan surrendered to the United States on September 2nd, it came in the newspaper that the men of the military was coming back home by the hundreds starting September 4th. Without a doubt, she was one of the first people there when she heard the news that Yoh might be aboard the first train back to Izumo. But it was for naught. One train came down the track that day, and he was nowhere to be found. She came back up the hill to the Asakura house with a knot in her stomach, unable to comprehend why he wasn't there.

Only one train?

So many men from the prefecture of Izumo left and so few came back. There must be an explanation. That night, she found one of the men who came back and asked if there was a reason so few returned.

He informed her that the trains were running slow due to the bombing and over the next few days, the soldiers would pack on as many as they could. That in itself calmed her down.

Idiot. Of course he would allow others to return home before him. That was just part of his kind-hearted nature. She would wait for him. She had to.

And so, for the next few days, she stood on the platform of the train station among the midst of families and friends who waited for their loved ones. And like clockwork, the train would arrive at ten o' clock in the morning, screeching to a halt, and the doors would fling open.

Tears would fall, many different kind of tears…

Fear.

Happiness.

Pain.

Passion.

And the platform would clear.

But Yoh was nowhere to be seen.

It went on for three days. She knew that it was growing futile when she noticed that she was the only one waiting for the train to come over the horizon by the 6th. Those that would be coming to Izumo had already come back, or were never coming back at all.

She was tired. Her legs were growing heavy. And she hadn't slept at all.

She felt weak, but in the midst of her apparent sadness, she was content. If Yoh never stepped off that train and embraced her like he used to, she would truly be content in knowing he fought for her and country. After all, that was all that mattered, right?

She could see the train in the distance. The grip she had on the pocket watch grew tighter with each passing second.

"_Please be on there."_

She had read in the newspaper that morning that the last of the soldiers were making their way home by now. This could be the last train ride that could have a soldier on it coming into Izumo. If he wasn't on this one, he may never be.

Her breathing became heavy as the locomotive cast a passing shadow over her as it came to a slow halt.

The doors flew open and the occasional pedestrian and native came flooding out, leaving her in a sea of unfamiliar people. She scanned as many faces as she could, trying to distinguish him from the rest. But it shouldn't have been this hard. She would recognize him in an instant, wouldn't she? Did the war change him that much? No, she trusted herself. She knew his face.

"_Please be here."_

She turned a few times in every direction, squinted her eyes, trying to pick him out amongst the crowd, but to no avail. He wasn't there. Soon, the last of the people aboard the train trickled off and the doors slid close. In another moment, the train sounded off and pushed forward and away down the tracks towards its next destination somewhere far, far away. She watched for as long as she could as it disappeared over the distant hills, a faint thought crossing her mind.

_Maybe he fell asleep on the train…sounds like something he would do._

She ultimately dismissed the idea, thinking it just a flight of fancy and placed the watch back in her coat pocket and blew on her hands again to warm them.

_Time to go home, I suppose..._

Then she heard a voice.

"Anna."

She twirled around and her eyes widened in honest to God shock.

It was him.

It was Yoh.

He was in a black suit with golden shoulder pads, a string of medals on the left of his chest and his hat in his hands, a single suitcase sitting at his feet next to his shiny black shoes. His hair had grown longer, tied into a braided ponytail, something she didn't think the Navy would allow, but she was glad they made an exception for him. His eyes were soft and dark circles were under them, but even his obvious tired features didn't stop him from standing erect and wearing a calming smile.

"I'm home—"

She had seized him in an instant, unable to contain herself any longer. She cried deep into his chest. It only grew worse when she felt his arms wrap around her and his chin rested on the top of her head.

Four years.

Four long years, she didn't see him, didn't hear him. Smell him. Feel him. Touch him. It was indescribable how painful it was to be separated from him. He was her sanity. She couldn't remember life before him and time stood still without him being there. Just being in his arms made everything right with the world.

"I'm sorry I couldn't write you. I…"

"Stop talking," she murmured through her tears. "Just let me stay like this."

The sudden embrace must have caught him off guard. She was acting so far out of character. She could practically feel him blush, which made her embarrassed as well realizing what she had just said. She had completely forgotten how premature their relationship was. She pushed him away and turned her back to him, trying desperately to regain what little composure she had left. She was a ball of emotional confusion, her mind and heart racing with thoughts of excitement and pure bliss. She looked over her shoulder to see that he had looked away as well, ears and cheeks red, not quite sure what to say.

He looked at her after letting out a long sigh, "You look nice."

She turned back to him, wiping a finger under her now stuffy nose, still unable to look him in the eye, "You look tired. I'll carry your bag, if you want."

"Thank you."

The silence between them began to tear at the truth of the matter once more and she looked at him directly, "How have you been?"

His smile grew weighted, "Lonely."

She didn't want him to say that, even though there was no way from her to stop it. The war was something they couldn't control; they were both apart of something much bigger than they could have ever imagined. Neither one of them were the same person that left each other at the train station four years ago. They had both gone through pain, trials, and tribulations. How were they going to pick up the loose ends after so long? These thoughts started to plague her mind before he even left. She knew he wasn't going to be the same person when he came back. The uncertainty scared her if she were to be honest with herself. Who was going to be stepping off that train the faithful day? Even as she stared back into his eyes, there was no real way of knowing then and there. She knew deep down, there was pain she couldn't have imagined that he tried to hide to keep her worry at bay.

But she had prepared for that long ago. No matter how long it would take, she just wanted him to know that she was there for him no matter what. She walked up to him and slid her hand across his cheek and kissed him, standing on her tip toes to reach his lips. She slowly parted, savoring every fiber of the moment. It was her turn to shock him. She bent down and took hold of the suitcase. It was a lot lighter than she had first thought. She looked up at him and smiled.

"You won't have to be lonely anymore. I promise."

He took hold of her hand and they began to walk down the steps of the train platform and towards the dirt road that led towards her home, the same road they always walked down when they were kids. A feeling of nostalgia fell over her, sending chills across her skin, or was it the wind? She took off one of the overcoats she had on and draped it across his shoulders. He tugged on it looked down at her solemnly placing his hat on her head.

"Thank you."

She smiled back tipping the cap in response, "You're welcome."

She was glad he was home…

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading. If i were to be completely honest, i was primarily wanting to write a more realistic ending for this story. Him not making it back home and stuff, but hey, I've been in a good mood lately, and I've recently been writing relatively darker material. So, i felt a little obligated to write something a bit happy-ending. Anyway, hope you liked it. I have a question however. I'm twenty-one now. What age do you think one has to get to for writing fanfictions to become inappropriate to do or do you even think there is one? I was just being curious. Let me know what you think in your reviews.**_


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